A past life regression, like all forms of hypnotic
regression, uses hypnosis to help someone retrieve forgotten memories.
For example, regressions are often used to help a client remember a
traumatic past event which remains unresolved in the subconscious mind
and results in anxieties or phobias which seem to have no apparent
cause. When the forgotten memory is made conscious and brought to the
level of understanding the phobia or anxiety often disappears. In the
case of past life regressions it is held that memories which precede
the current life but belong to a common soul can be retrieved. It is
also believed that most if not all souls are reincarnated in multiple
lives and that memories of these many lives can be restored through
hypnosis much in the manner that hypnotic regressions can restore the
memories of a present life. How can past life regressions be possible?
Are they real or fantasy?

Hypnotic past life regressions have been
made popular in recent decades by practitioners and writers such as
Richard Sutphen, Brian Weiss and others, and also through the growing
interest in near death experiences (re. Raymond A. Moody's Life
After Life) and paranormal phenomena in general. But the
history of past life regressions begins early in the twentieth century,
and Albert de Rochas may have been the first to use hypnosis for the
purpose of inducing past life regressions. However, "PLR dates back to
the 4th century BC when Patanjali, the ancient Indian philosopher who
codified yoga, instructed how past lives can be recalled through
meditation." (ref. Anupama Bhattacharya, at http://www.lifepositive.com/Mind/personal-growth/past-life-therapy/past-life.asp).

The argument that past life memories are--at
least in some cases--more than mere fantasies ought not be casually
dismissed. This is not only because great spiritual, religious, and
philosophical traditions (e.g.. Hinduism, Buddhism, Kabbalah,
Pythagoreanism) have posited the reality of reincarnation, but also
because the circumstantial evidence is sometimes not easily discounted
or refuted. In fact, arguments which dismiss incredible incidents of
past life memory and/or transmission of knowledge can appear at least
as improbable as the argument that the past life memory is in fact
real. How does one explain past life memories which can be documented
by meticulous historical research so arcane that it is unreasonable to
suppose that they could have been available to the person "remembering"
particular events or persons. Or how do young children suddenly begin
speaking foreign languages or languages that are no longer spoken?
Situations such as these have been documented and it would require a
dogmatic positivism to reject them out of hand.

If past life memories are real, we can
engage in metaphysical speculation about their specific nature.
Discussions of past lives generally are cast in terms of reincarnation
and the life of the soul after death. However, this may be only one of
a number of alternative explanations for past life memories. One
possibility is that souls can simultaneously occupy different persons
so that the soul's education is accelerated. This could perhaps account
for the psychic connections between certain persons. Another
possibility, and one that I am at times drawn to, is that past life
memories are actually memory fragments of collective conscious
experience. This notion ties into the belief in the Akashic Records, a
concept that is generally thought of in terms of reincarnation but in
my view does not necessarily require the postulation of souls and their
continued existence after death. The speculation that a universal
"library" of consciousness and of past lives does not necessarily
require the existence of the soul. But as is the case with all
metaphysics, these thoughts are only speculations and it is important
that they be put into the context of what is meaningful to living
persons.

While the outright rejection of the
possibility of past lives reflects scientific dogma, it strikes me as
equally dogmatic to take a completely non-skeptical approach to this
subject such as, for example, the belief that every past life
regression taps into the memories of the past lives of actual persons.
The subconscious mind has long been thought of as being the seat of
creativity and imagination as well as the link to spiritual and psychic
dimensions (e.g.. Thomson Jay Hudson, The Law of Psychic
Phenomena, 1892.) If the subconscious does in fact have this
dual role then it would not be unreasonable to suppose that creative
imagery and past life memories might at times become confused or
intertwined. It is possible that past life regressions may reflect
information about both actual past lives and
creative solutions to difficulties and challenges of the current life.
Having made this distinction, however, it can be argued that in most
cases it really does not matter whether the past life "memory" is real
or only creative fantasy. In either case, information is being
discovered which has profound importance to the hypnotic subject who is
experiencing a past life regression. Past life regressions and the
images of our souls in terms of different lives even if these images
are imaginary can be the ultimate life reframing experience. They show
patterns of behavior, challenges, anxieties, problems and successes
which shine light on present day life. If reincarnation is concerned
with the working out of karmic tensions, then past life regressions are
part of that process regardless whether the memories are accurate or
imaginative. In this sense, past life regressions are highly consistent
with what is the primary goal of much of hypnotherapy: the uncovering
of persistent patterns which obstruct or even sabotage personal growth
and self-realization.

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